Non-fiction
Jesse Norman interview: Edmund Burke, our chief of men
When he arrived in London, Burke had a very brief career in law. He soon dedicated his time to critical thinking, writing and politics. Burke published a number of ground… Continue reading
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Edmund Burke – a writer one should always read
I thought readers might be interested in this piece in the current print edition of the magazine. It is my review of a very interesting new book on Edmund Burke,… Continue reading
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Dreams and Nightmares: Europe in the twentieth century
So much abuse has been heaped on the European Union in recent years that it is easy to forget that Europe and the EU are not the same thing. Geert… Continue reading
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George Lowe’s Letters from Everest
I was hoping this was going to be a post featuring an interview with a writer. After reading a proof copy of George Lowe’s Letters from Everest, I had the… Continue reading
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Interview: Jared Cohen and The New Digital Age
Jared Cohen is Director of Google Ideas, a think tank set up by Google dedicated to understanding global challenges by applying technological solutions. Cohen is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow… Continue reading
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The Ize Have It
She divided us in life, she’s dividing us in death. Baroness Thatcher was so controversial that a single letter in a single word in the subtitle of a book that… Continue reading
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Ceremonies of Bravery: Oscar Wilde, Carlos Blacker, and the Dreyfus Affair by J. Robert Maguire – review
The life of Oscar Wilde is so wearily familiar that we assume that there is nothing new to think or say about him. This book proves us wrong. Carlos Blacker… Continue reading
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The Secret Lives of Books – occasional tales from the Bodleian
Does monotropa hypopithys, or yellow bird’s nest, still grow in Mickleham, Surrey, in the woods once owned by Sir Lucas Pepys the celebrity physician who, in ministering to King George… Continue reading
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Wisden finally merits the epithet ‘Cricket Bible’
The man who christened Wisden ‘The Cricket Bible’ had little religion. Wisden is an unprepossessing sight: a 1,500 page tome surrounded by a flame-yellow dust jacket covered in mud brown… Continue reading
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The Young Van Dyck edited by Alejandro Vergara and Friso Lammertse – review
Precocious genius will never fail to impress. But it is also very hard to relate to. Aged 14, Anthony Van Dyck painted a Portrait of a Seventy-Year-Old man that looked… Continue reading
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Zero Six Bravo proves that too much secrecy over Special Forces is a bad thing
Zero Six Bravo tells of 60 Special Forces operators forced to remain silent in the face of accusations of ‘cowardice’ and ‘running away from the Iraqis’ in the 2003 war.… Continue reading
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How To Pronounce It – U and non-U. A guide for George “innit” Osborne.
Sometimes, in the joyous lotteries we call ‘secondhand bookshops’, you find a volume that takes you back to a different era because of its physical appearance. Sometimes you find one… Continue reading
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Atlas of History’s Greatest Military Victories, by Jeremy Harwood – review
Final proof – if any were needed – that Englishmen are not made of the same mettle as their rough, tough ancestors is provided on the website of the Towton… Continue reading
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21 books for a godson, pt. 2
This post is the second half of a list of 21 books that a man might give to his godson on the occasion of his twenty-first birthday.That is novels done.… Continue reading
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Rifleman by Victor Gregg is a book you ought to read
I live in New York and until this month I had never heard of Victor Gregg, the World War II veteran whose 2011 memoir, Rifleman, was hailed as possibly the… Continue reading
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A tale of two colonels
This week, March 11th, marks the 50th anniversary of the shooting by firing squad near Paris of the last person (so far) to be executed by the state for political… Continue reading
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Review: Mod! – A Very British Style, by Richard Weight
Doesn’t it all seem a long time ago? For years, the 1960s remained a key cultural reference, universally understood. But then, at some point, probably around the turn of the… Continue reading
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Review – Invisible Romans, by Robert Knapp
It’s tempting to reduce the Roman Empire to a roll call of famous men and their infamous deeds. The Republic toppled with Caesar on the steps of the senate; freedom… Continue reading
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Interview with a writer: Jared Diamond
In his latest book The World Until Yesterday, Jared Diamond analyses the behavioral differences between human beings in tribal stateless-societies and those living in bureaucratic nation states. Diamond says that if… Continue reading
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The Last Days of Alfred Hitchcock
For the last 40 years it’s been impossible to interview Anthony Hopkins without him doing his Tommy Cooper impression. He’s obsessed with the bloke, constantly interrupting Silence of the Lambs… Continue reading
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